Cast This: Blade

The mighty Marvel machine has been thundering ahead like an unstoppable juggernaut, and its stunning business victory has helped them reclaim characters whose rights had been sold to various studios during the company's financial instability in the 1990s (the Juggernaut is not among them, ironically).

Since then, we've seen new versions of Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, Spider-Man and the Punisher existing within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, whether in movies, TV shows or Netflix series. But while the rights to the vampire-hunting half-vampire known as Blade quietly returned beneath the Marvel umbrella, we haven't seen the character reappear on screen... yet.

In 1998, long before Tony Stark's armor-clad alter-ego would launch a shockingly successful interrelated series of movies, New Line Cinema released the R-rated BLADE (Marvel's first comic character to reach theaters since the questionable quacker HOWARD THE DUCK in 1986).

The bloody action proved to be a box office success, and (despite Blade's obscure origins) helped ignite a new era of big-screen comic book adaptations. For three movies, Wesley Snipes famously sliced his way through an army of suckheads as the "Daywalker" (followed by Kirk "Sticky Fingaz" Jones, who did the same but much less famously on a short-lived Spike TV series).

Blade (born Eric Brooks) first appeared in 1973 as a supporting character in Marvel's Tomb of Dracula comic series. His mother was bitten by dastardly bloodsucker Deacon Frost while she was giving birth, resulting in certain aspects of vampirism being passed to Blade. Growing up with a prolonged lifespan, and gaining superhuman physical abilities after being bitten by Morbius the Living Vampire, Blade dedicated his life to traveling the world and slaughtering the vampire menace.

The character has been prominent in several comics and storylines over the years, teaming with other supernatural allies like Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider, joining a detective agency in the Nightstalkers comic series, getting caught up in the Civil War crossover event, and joining the Avengers under the Ronin identity. Blade has also appeared in various cartoons, videogames and even an anime series.

But when Blade finally shows up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and we still don't know where or when that might be), who will be wearing the black leather outfit and turning vamps to ash? In the minds of many movie and comic fans, Wesley Snipes will forever embody the character. And although he could likely still kick plenty of bloodsucker butt at 54 years old, Marvel will probably want to create a whole new continuity and therefore put someone different in the role.

So who should play the new Blade?

Michael Jai White is certainly imposing and geared for action, and still deserves another crack at a major comic character 20 years after SPAWN. For someone less familiar, how about Aldis Hodge, who has starred on the TV series "Leverage" and "Underground", and played MC Ren in last year's STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON? Or for an even more unknown quantity, I'll suggest John David Washington. He's basically known only from HBO's series "Ballers", but he's athletic and throws a Snipes vibe, and I'm sure he inherited some talent from his dad Denzel.